“Get Out of Battle Creek!”

Ellen White referred to the move from Rochester, New York, to Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1855, as the time when “the Lord began to turn our captivity.” ^{22Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 159.} Soon, along with the growth of the publishing house, the Health Reform Institute was established, and eventually Battle Creek College. The three institutions were largely the result of Mrs. White’s visions and James White’s organizational skills. ^{23See pp. 52, 53.}MOL 185.5

However, as time passed and the need for people to operate these institutions grew, all the problems associated with an Adventist ghetto emerged. With worldly success came the human traits of jealousy, gossip, and complacency. Many of the members came from poor communities in New England and the Midwest, hoping to place their children in church schools; the dissension regarding the policies of these early schools contributed to the general unrest. Through the years Mrs. White had written and spoken much regarding the declining spiritual condition of the Battle Creek church members.MOL 185.6

The year 1902 was anchored on both ends with stunning disasters. On February 18 the internationally famous Battle Creek Sanitarium burned to the ground. During the night of December 30, the Review and Herald Publishing Association also was reduced to ashes.MOL 186.1

At the General Conference Session, on April 3, 1903, the unpopular motion before the delegates was: “That the General Conference offices or headquarters be moved from Battle Creek, Mich., to some place favorable for its work on the Atlantic Coast.” Ellen White arose and said: “Some seemed to think that when they reached Battle Creek, they would be near heaven, that in Battle Creek they would not have many temptations.” They didn’t realize that “in Battle Creek ... the enemy was working the hardest.” ^{24The Review and Herald, April 14, 1903, p. 17.}MOL 186.2

She reminded the church leaders that God had been warning for years to “Get out of Battle Creek.” She reviewed her reply to two young educators (P. T. Magan and E. A. Sutherland) who had asked for counsel regarding the future of Battle Creek College: “Take the school out of Battle Creek, if you can possibly do so.” The move, she said, was a “success.”MOL 186.3

Then she turned to the future of the publishing house: “The very worst thing that could now be done would be for the Review and Herald office to be once more built up in Battle Creek.”MOL 186.4

But she wasn’t finished. She included the church leadership: “Let the General Conference offices and the publishing work be moved from Battle Creek. I know not where the place will be, whether on the Atlantic Coast or elsewhere.”MOL 186.5

Without doubt, her direction at this meeting stopped the hesitation. Search committees were formed and properties from Connecticut to New Jersey were investigated. The hope was to find something near New York City.MOL 186.6

Then letters began to come from Ellen White in response to fervent urging from the president of the General Conference. From the light she had, she was not in favor of New York. Rather, Washington, D. C., seemed to have special advantages. The formula still worked: God will not remove the task of decision-making from human beings. Men and women must do their part, while God does His. God encourages people with sufficient light to make right choices, always providing, when asked, the wisdom to make the right choice and the power to act. When correct decisions are made, God has His special way of endorsing those decisions.MOL 186.7

This was not an easy time for church leaders. Constituents of the publishing house corporation were promising a legal battle. The publishing house employees and other church members had invested heavily in their Battle Creek properties and now feared they would suffer personal financial disaster.MOL 186.8

A. G. Daniells, president of the General Conference, wrote in July, 1903: “We are in a dreadful place. God must help us. We are helpless.... I want to tell you that I realize as I never have in all my life the need, and the value to the church, of the Spirit of Prophecy. The working of Satan at this present time is surely with all power, and signs, and lying wonders. And it is so intense and cunning that only God can meet it successfully. We who accept the high and sacred responsibilities of this work must let God teach us, and we must listen to His voice.” ^{25A. G. Daniells to Ellen G. White, July 6, 1903, cited in Bio., vol. 5, pp. 275, 276.}MOL 186.9

After preliminary investigation church leaders were satisfied that Takoma Park, on the northern edge of Washington, D.C., should be the new home for the Review and Herald Publishing Association and the headquarters for the General Conference. Then a letter came from Ellen White: “The Lord has opened this matter to me decidedly. The publishing work that has been carried on in Battle Creek should for the present be carried on near Washington. If after a time the Lord says, Move away from Washington, we are to move.” ^{26Letter 140, 1903, cited in Daniells, Abiding Gift, p. 349.}MOL 186.10

In reflecting on this moment, Daniells wrote: “No one but those who passed through this very trying experience can appreciate the relief brought to us by that word of certainty.” ^{27Ibid. For additional background, see A. G. Daniells, Abiding Gift, pp. 343-352; Schwarz, Light Bearers, pp. 299-313; Schwarz, “The Perils of Growth, 1886-1905,” in Land, Adventism in America., pp. 131-133; A. W. Spalding, Origin and History, vol. 3, pp. 66-81; Bio., vol. 5, pp. 271-279.}MOL 187.1